How does one deceive himself as it is written in James 1:22 — "But be doers of the Word [obey the message], and not merely listeners to it, betraying yourselves [into deception by reasoning contrary to the Truth].”

James 1:22 -  "But be doers of the Word [obey the message], and not merely listeners to it, betraying yourselves [into deception by reasoning contrary to the Truth].”

This verse is often wrongly taught in the context of:

"You see, now that you are born-again, you have to do your best to be sinless and keep the Law as a guiding principle for morality and in order to remain godly and make it to heaven."

This is a false, antichrist and "out of context" interpretation that totally misleads, especially with regard to the "Word" that believers should be doers of. This "Word" is not the LAW that kills and which many are trying so hard to keep in order to be godly (be like God.) It is the word of FAITH. The Law is not of Faith.

The false interpretation of James 1:22 that advocates keeping the Law in order to remain godly after one is saved leads to death (Romans 7:5.) The letter kills. When you take a "text" out of its context, you are left with a "con." See James 1:22 in its context:

"But be doers of the Word [obey the message], and not merely listeners to it, betraying yourselves [into deception by reasoning contrary to the Truth]. 23 For if anyone only listens to the Word without obeying it and being a doer of it, he is like a man who looks carefully at his [own] natural face in a mirror; 24 For he thoughtfully observes himself, and then goes off and promptly forgets what he was like."

See the The Passion Translation- "Don’t just listen to the Word of Truth and not respond to it, for that is the essence of self-deception. So always let His Word become like poetry written and fulfilled by your life! 23 If you listen to the Word and don’t live out the message you hear, you become like the person who looks in the mirror of the Word to discover the reflection of his face in the beginning. 24 You perceive how God sees you in the mirror of the Word, but then you go out and forget your divine origin. 25 But those who set their gaze deeply into the perfecting law of liberty are fascinated by and respond to the truth they hear and are strengthened by it—they experience God’s blessing in all that they do!"

Notice that those who are not doers of the word are those who do not “obey the message” or "live out the message" that they hear? And what is the message of Christ? What is this WORD that we are to be doers of? See this in Romans 1:

16 "For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile. 17 This Good News tells us how God makes us right in His sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.”

The word that we are to be doers of or the message that we are to obey tells us how God makes us right in His sight. It is "accomplished from start to finish by faith." The Law (including the Ten Commandments) is not of Faith and it cannot make anyone righteous in God’s sight:

"For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are." Romans 3:20.

We see the "Word" that we are to be doers of and a detailed account of how God makes us right in His sight in Romans 3:

"26...for He himself is fair and just, and He makes sinners right in His sight when they believe in Jesus. 27 Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. It is based on faith. 28 So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law."

The LAW is not of FAITH. The Word that we are to be doers of is not the Ten Commandments or the LAW. It is the word of God's Grace; the word of FAITH. It is believing that in Christ, we are righteous and remain righteous by faith in Christ and not by human effort at keeping the Law. This is the crux of the message of Christ: Righteousness by faith in Christ.

Just to digress a bit, some people asked our Saviour Jesus Christ the question: “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?” No better answer or explanation than that which comes from our Saviour Jesus Christ Himself —

28 "Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?” 29 "Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent."

When your believing is right, right living will follow. Good works are EVIDENCES of our salvation in Christ, not CONDITIONS.

Back to "But be doers of the Word [obey the message], and not merely listeners to it, betraying yourselves [into deception by reasoning contrary to the Truth]. 23 For if anyone only listens to the Word without obeying it and being a doer of it, he is like a man who looks carefully at his [own] natural face in a mirror; 24 For he thoughtfully observes himself, and then goes off and promptly forgets what he was like."

So how does God see we who believe through the mirror of the word of His Grace — His underserved, unearned, unmerited favour? See this in Romans 5:9 —

“And there is still much more to say of His unfailing love for us! For through the blood of Jesus we have heard the powerful declaration, “You are now righteous in My sight.” And because of the sacrifice of Jesus, you will never experience the wrath of God."

Notice that it is through the blood of Jesus that we are made righteous in God's sight and not because we obeyed the Ten Commandments or did good things? Verse 24 of James 1 says of those who are hearers of the word and not doers:

“For he thoughtfully observes himself, and then goes off and promptly forgets what he was like."

See The Passion Translation: “You perceive how God sees you in the mirror of the Word, but then you go out and forget your divine origin.”

Those who are mere hearers of the word and not doers are those who forget how God sees them through the mirror of His word — Righteous by the blood of Jesus. After hearing the word (of faith, not the Law,) such do not obey the Word of Truth that they heard. Instead of believing that they are righteous by faith, they go back to trying to keep the Ten Commandments and doing all sorts of “good works" in order to get right with God, maintain their salvation, obtain His favour and escape His wrath, all of this after Christ freely shed His blood for us for this same purpose. Romans 10:3 says of such:

"For they don’t understand God’s way of making people right with Himself. Refusing to accept God’s way, they cling to their own way of getting right with God by trying to keep the law. 4 For Christ has already accomplished the purpose for which the law was given. As a result, all who believe in Him are made right with God."

And how do such deceive themselves? By the very fact that they think that a person can liv a godly life by human effort; by the fact that they think that a person can notch up points of righteousness with God by keeping the Law or by suppressing sinful passions through human striving or sheer will-power aka the arm of flesh that will fail. See what God's word says of man's will-power as was Paul's experience in Romans 7:18 —

For I know that nothing good lives within the flesh of my fallen humanity. The longings to do what is right are within me, but will-power is not enough to accomplish it."

God's word says human effort (the arm of flesh) will fail, is powerless and cannot. But Pride in the arm of flesh (human effort at obedience) that will fail says:

"No, I can. God must be wrong. I still have some good in me. I can keep the law and resist temptation to commit sin by clenching my teeth and striving hard.”

Reminds one of Peter telling Jesus that He was wrong when He told him of his upcoming denials. Like Peter, what we have of our own human effort are good intentions. One popular song says "The road to hell is paved with good intentions." The arm of flesh (human effort at keeping the Law or suppressing sinful passions) will fail and when it does, those suppressed sinful passions will explode in a volcanic eruption of sins that lead to death. See this phenomenon explained in Romans 7:5-

"When we were controlled by our old nature,sinful desires were at work within us, and the law aroused these evil desires that produced a harvest of sinful deeds, resulting in death."

Romans 5:20 tells us why the law was given: that sin might increase: "The law was given so that sin would increase. But where sin increased, God’s grace increased even more."

Those who misinterpret “Be doers of the word and not hearers alone…” as “do your best to keep the Law and stop sinning" deceive themselves by thinking that they can keep the Law and be godly (aka be like God) by human attempt, just as Adam and Eve did. Their human striving at being godly through human attempts at keeping the Law only causes sin to increase in their lives — "For sin shall not have dominion over you for you are not under law but under Grace." Romans 6:14. But many have this verse backwards.

Remember Peter seemed to be making good on his promise to not bear false witness (8th Commandment) against Jesus at first — he slashed off someone's ear when the soldiers came to arrest Jesus in Gethsemane, ready to defend Christ. Then his circumstances changed and he sang a different tune…three times. Boasting in one's ability to keep the Law (boasting in the flesh aka human effort) and thinking this is what makes a person “a doer of the word" gives Satan the opportunity to sift a person like wheat as he did Peter. You can bet Satan won't come to box such who boast in their useless arm of flesh with kid gloves.

Many among us don't yet realise that the reason why we are not committing particular sins is because God did not allow us to get tempted beyond what we can bear in those areas of our "strength." See 1 Corinthians 10:12-13:

"12 So beware if you think it could never happen to you, lest your pride becomes your downfall. 13 We all experience times of testing, which is normal for every human being. But God will be faithful to you. He will screen and filter the severity, nature, and timing of every test or trial you face so that you can bear it. And each test is an opportunity to trust Him more, for along with every trial God has provided for you a way of escape that will bring you out of it victoriously."

If God lifted His restraining hand that restrains us from sins, we would all be wallowing in heinous sins by now. Our success at doing the right thing has got nothing to do with our strong moral resolve or non-existent prowess at keeping the Ten Commandments for the purpose of morality after we got saved. Paul addressed this in Romans 1 where a group who “suppress the truth” of righteousness by faith (verses 16-19) devolved into sin after “God lifted off His restraining hand…” —

“24 This is why God lifted off His restraining hand and let them have full expression of their sinful and shameful desires…”

This is why Christ came: to save us from our sins. Believer, God our heavenly Father is fully satisfied with the payment that Christ made for our sins. Romans 5:9 says of how He sees we who believe:

"And there is still much more to say of His unfailing love for us! For through the blood of Jesus we have heard the powerful declaration, “You are now righteous in My sight.” And because of the sacrifice of Jesus, you will never experience the wrath of God."

Believer, see yourself as God sees you in Christ- righteous apart from works. This is what it means to be a doer of the word. Seeing ourselves as God sees us through the mirror of His word isn't something we do just for the sake of it. By seeing ourselves as our heavenly Father sees us in Christ, we are being transformed. As we continue to see ourselves through the mirror of God's Word (Christ Himself: Grace-personified) and not through the Law (which Romans 3:20 says was given to show us how sinful we are,) we are being transformed by His Spirit, something the Law can never do. See 2 Corinthians 3:18-

"But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord."

Only imperfect people need transformation. The one who can transform himself to "be like God" or live a gidly life by will-power and human striving (arm of flesh) at obeying the Law does not need the Spirit of the Lord to transform him.

With Christ as our righteousness, we are 100% righteous in the sight of God our Father (Romans 5:9) and "so lovely" to Jesus Christ our Shepherd-King (Song of Songs 1:5) - EVEN THOUGH WE ARE GUILTY OF MANY SINS. See this in Romans 5:16 below. In Christ, we have God's super-abounding Grace and His gift of righteousness by which we get to live in triumph over sin and death through Jesus Christ: Romans 5:16-17:

16 “And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins. 17 For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and His gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one Man, Jesus Christ.”

GOD'S GRACE (JESUS CHRIST HIMSELF) IS NOT A LICENSE TO SIN. HE IS THE WAY TO LIVE IN TRIUMPH OVER SIN AND DEATH. WITHOUT HIM, WE WOULD ALL DEVOLVE INTO SIN AND DEATH. All earthly ills are "death begun."

But many deceive themselves by putting the cart before the horse and think they are not sinning because they have some good in their fallen humanity.

The spirit of the antichrist is not anti-God. In fact, it can be very religious, preaching strongly against sin from behind the pulpit and shouting the need for churchgoers to bear the fruit of godliness from the rooftops - like the Pharisees. It tries to remove or replace the finished work of Christ in making the sinner who believes righteous in God's sight with human striving at attaining righteousness. It focuses on the importance of striving for godliness/salvation from sin by human effort at keeping the Law and suppressing sins by will-power. and it knows exactly what it is doing — trying to cut believers off from Christ:

"For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God's grace." Galatians 5:4.

This antichrist spirit twists and misinterprets “Be doers of the word and not hearers alone” as:

“Now that you are saved by Grace through Faith, you have to do your best to be godly and keep the Law, not for justification before God but as a guiding principle for morality/in order to be godly/so that God can bless you/so that God will not pour His wrath on you" or for whatever reason.

The Law is not of Faith. This horrid mixture that is neither Law nor Grace is the “neither cold nor hot” that Christ speaks of in Revelation 3.

But this is what Christ came to do: Titus 2:14- "He gave His life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us His very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds."

Let’s take our blessed brains to church. How can Christ who came to free us from every kind of sin use the same sins that he came to free us from as an excuse for not saving us from them? This is akin to an oncologist dad refusing to heal his own beloved child who has cancer...because the child has cancer. Only by receiving God's abundance of grace and His gift of righteousness to us in Christ do we get to live in triumph over sin and death and only through Jesus Christ.

Recall that some people who wanted to be doers of God's work asked Christ what they must do in John 6. See our Saviour's response:

28 “They replied, “We want to perform God’s works, too. What should we do?” 29 Jesus told them, “This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the One He has sent.”

To be a doer of the word is to believe that in Christ, we are righteous (in God’s sight) by faith in Christ and not by what we do/don't do or puny efforts at obeying the Ten Commandments. This is what it means to believe in Jesus Christ.

But many observe themselves in the mirror of God's word and then go out and stop believing that God sees them as righteous because of the sacrifice of His own Son. Only when we continually see ourselves the same way our heavenly Father sees us in Christ (righteous) can true transformation happen; not by human effort at obedience but by the power of the Holy Spirit. See this in 2 Corinthians 3:18-

"But we all with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord are being transformed to the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord."

In Christ, our salvation is not at all about behaviour modification or suppressing sinful passions by human effort aka the arm of flesh. The arm of flesh will fail and when it does, those suppressed sinful passions (stirred up by the Law that many are trying to keep) will explode in a volcanic eruption of sinful deeds that lead to death (see this in Romans 7:5)

Salvation in Christ is about hearts’ transformation by the Holy Spirit. Christ in us does it all. When we look into the mirror of our self-lives, there is so much imperfection. God knows how screwed up our lives can be. But He does not want the believer in Christ to see himself in these imperfections, obvious as they are. He wants us to continually believe and keep on seeing ourselves as He sees us in the mirror of His word- Righteous through Christ's blood (Romans 5:9.)

This is not something we do just for the sake of it. As we continue to see ourselves as our heavenly Father sees us through the mirror of the Word, we are being transformed.This is what it means to be a doer of the word. See 2 Corinthians 3:18-

"But we all with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord are being transformed to the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord."

This Way, we are transformed by His Spirit and so, get to live right.

Those who are hearers alone and not doers of the Word forget their righteousness in Christ and their divine origin and try to get re-righteous through the Law. Such do not obey the Truth. The more they look to the Law for righteousness, the more they sin because:

"The law was given so that sin would increase. But where sin increased, God’s grace increased even more." Romans 5:20.

Paul called Peter out for such behaviour (not being a doer of the word/not obeying the Truth) in Galatians 2:11-14, when he (Peter) did some "eye-service" and reverted to the Law of Moses by not eating or associating with Gentiles because some of James' Jewish friends from Judea were in town-

“When Peter came to Antioch, I told him face to face that he was wrong. 12 He used to eat with Gentile followers of the Lord, until James sent some Jewish followers. Peter was afraid of the Jews and soon stopped eating with Gentiles. 13 He and the other Jews hid their true feelings so well that even Barnabas was fooled. 14 But when I saw that they were not really obeying the truth that is in the good news, I corrected Peter in front of everyone and said: Peter, you are a Jew, but you live like a Gentile. So how can you force Gentiles to live like Jews?”

Peter's action was contrary to the truth. He didn't obey the truth of the Good News: “But be doers of the Word [obey the message], and not merely listeners to it, betraying yourselves [into deception by reasoning contrary to the Truth].” He tried to keep the Law that says Jews must not associate with Gentiles in order to show James' Jewish friends that he was godly.

The message of the cross is righteousness by faith through Christ Jesus. Doing works of the Law in order to to be anything at all in God's sight after Christ died to make us righteous and perfect in His sight is what it means to be a hearer of the word alone and not a doer.

Paul goes on to say in verses 17–21 of Galatians 2:

17 “But suppose we seek to be made right with God through faith in Christ and then we are found guilty because we have abandoned the law. Would that mean Christ has led us into sin? Absolutely not! 18 Rather, I am a sinner if I rebuild the old system of law I already tore down. 19 For when I tried to keep the law, it condemned me. So I died to the law—I stopped trying to meet all its requirements—so that I might live for God. 20 My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. 21 I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die.”

Interpreting or acting on the belief that being a doer of the word is obeying the Ten Commandments and doing works of the law in order to be anything before God is rebuilding the old system of the law that we who believe in Jesus already tore down. It is treating God's grace as meaningless.

“Law” and “Grace and Truth" are on different sides of the aisle, “For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” John 1:17.

For we who are in Christ, this truth is not “obey the Ten Commandments in order to be righteous.” No one can (Romans 3:20.) This is the sure-fire way to get cut off from Christ: 

“For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God's grace.” Galatians 5:4.

Our truth is that in Christ, God sees us as righteous only because of the shed blood of our Saviour Jesus Christ. And in Him, we who believe never remain the same. All who receive God's abundance of Grace and obey the truth (believe and receive His gift of righteousness to us in Christ) GET TO live in triumph over sin and death through Jesus Christ: Romans 5:16-17:

“"And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins. 17 For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and His gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one Man, Jesus Christ."

Right believing always produces right living.